PRAGUE, Feb. 24 - Energy holding New World Resources (NWR), Central Europe's sole listed coal miner, sees the proposed acquisition of a 24.99% stake in Ukrainian iron ore and pellet producer Ferrexpo as key to its regional growth strategy, CFO Marek Jelinek said in an interview Tuesday, adding the economic crisis could present further attractive opportunities in that emerging market.

"There is an extremely strong industrial logic to tying together with Ferrexpo [towards] creating a regional champion," Jelinek told Interfax following the release of NWR's preliminary unaudited 2008 results, showing net profit up 79% on the year at EUR 351.64 million.